Bernard Malamud’s Praise For Jewish Ethic:from The View Of Binary Oppositions In The Assistant

Bernard Malamud is one of the most famous Jewish-American writers in American literary history. He writes mainly about common Jews who have great and various sufferings. On the one hand, they desire to escape from their exilic history, and seek their dreams and a new life. On the other hand, they are unable to break away from their Jewish heritage of suffering. Finally, they learn to keep their conscience, responsibility, love and mercy in hard times, and strive for moral perfection.Binary oppositions exist in literary works. Binarism has become a major method of literary criticism. This thesis deploys binarism to analyze the various pairs of opposing elements and demonstrates the major role that binary opposition plays in character depiction, conflict presentation and theme development.The Introduction presents Malamud’s life and a literature review on The Assistant.Chapter One explores the binary oppositions existing within the two main characters:Morris Bober and Frank Alpine. Bober has inner conflicts and inner contradiction:he is a loser in material world but a winner in spiritual world. Similarly, Alpine is conflicted and he swings between his evil and good sides. He is a man with a "split" character. He harms people like Ward again and again, while simultaneously desiring sainthood like St. Francis of Assisi. Alpine comes to understand Bober’s Jewishness after he is hired as Bober’s shop assistant. Finally, Alpine is "reborn" from being a devil to an angel.Chapter Two analyses binary oppositions between characters:Morris Bober and Julius Karp; Helen Bober and Ida Bober. Karp is an indifferent and wicked man, while Morris is honest, kind, and sympathetic towards others. Morris is, in a word,"saintly". Helen Bober, a represents second generation female immigrants, and is independent and generous. She sharply contrasts to Ida Bober, who is selfish and narrow-minded. These differences in their characters influence their contrary attitudes towards marriage.Chapter Three analyzes binary opposition as it appears in the themes of:Jewishness and Americanness; and, imprisonment and transcendence. Despite its elaborate concern with the Jewish way of life, The Assistant deals with the inherent conflicts between oldness and newness; the traditional and the modern; the heritage of ancient wisdom and values and practicality and success. The characters imprison themselves by attending to both cultures even though this creates a conflict at every turn. They do achieve transcendence by enduring all these tests and sufferings that are inherent in their situation. The conclusion stresses that these oppositions arise from inevitable and unavoidable conflicts between the ancient Jewish spiritualism and modern American materialism. It concludes that Malamud, in The Assistant, uses several pairs of binary oppositions to describe the characters, deepen the theme and enhance and develop the novel’s artistic value.In addition, this analysis suggests that readers should understand Malamud’s expression of his contempt for the ugly practice presents in American capitalist society, while showing an appreciation for Jewish kindness, honesty, firmness, responsibility and moral standard. Malamud highly praises people who hold a firm belief while seeking a new life, and condemns the selfish and greedy man. Malamud places Jewish morality into Jewish life and culture, linking the present situation with the future of Jewish people.